1 Corinthians 3:1-9 (NRSV)
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Chapter 3And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. Verse 2I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, Verse 3for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? Verse 4For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human?
Verse 5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. Verse 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Verse 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Verse 8The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. Verse 9For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.
Devotion
My parents’ choice to gift me with a baby goat on my 15th birthday set me on a unique path that led to 15 years raising and milking Toggenburg dairy goats. Though I no longer own goats, that choice still informs my annual Labor Day–weekend stint as Minnesota State Fair Dairy Goat Superintendent. People who know me primarily as a pastor often seem astonished to see me in the barn, in this role. But I love that my “day job” as a shepherd of souls is punctuated by practical care for goats too.
Before we could handle solid food, we were fed milk. The truth is, even if you are a seasoned follower of Christ, you still will always require the basic nutrition and hydration that milk can offer. Drink up!
Prayer
Nourishing God, whether it be solid food or milk, you know best what will fill and equip me this day. Be bread, and milk, and field, and shelter, for me and for all your dear ones this day. Amen.